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Aloe trinervis
Botanists have described a #new species of Aloe, Aloe trinervis, from the desert in the #Bikaner district of Rajasthan. It is the second Aloe species recorded in the wild in India.Compared to #Aloe vera — the only wild Aloe species known in India prior to this discovery — which bears triangular teeth on the margins of its leaves and orange-yellow flowers, the new species has bent teeth on the leaf margins and its flowers are pale green.Experts believe that a molecular phylogenetic analysis is needed to identify the new species and also reveal its evolutionary origins.

The new species of Aloe was collected during the ﬁeld work (April2002 to March2011) in Rajasthan state of India.Living plants were collected from type locality near Shivbari (Jorbhir), Bikaner, Rajasthan (Figure 1) for preparation of herbarium specimens and their ex-situ conservation, in the Desert Botanical Garden at CAZRI, Jodhpur.

The new plant species is rare and it could only be collected from four sites in the region with an extent of occurrence of about 500 square kilometres. Based on these observations, the species is classified as ‘endangered’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

Local people were observed to collect young buds and tender leaves of the plant for making pickles and cooking. Like A. vera, the leaves were used medicinally on the skin. “This hampers its population build-up,” explained Kulloli, adding that since this species is succulent, it is adapted to dry conditions and can be easily grown around agricultural farms and utilised for different purposes. The author says that its medicinal properties and chemical compounds need to be analysed in further studies

.Unlike A. vera, which has triangular pointed teeth on the leaf margins, the teeth on this plant are bent backward. The former has unbranched flower clusters, while they are branched in this species. Flowers of A. vera are orange-yellow, but in this plant, they are pale green, brownish in the middle, and longer in length. The new plant species also has longer stamens.[|Plant parts of Aloe trinervis and Aloe vera (A & B) were compared with respect to (1) inflorescence, (2) corolla ventral view, (3) corolla dorsal view, (4) teeth arrangement, (5) bud, (6) floral bract, (7) teeth shape.]